Cooking with beer

Ontario's small breweries celebrate 25 years of raising a toast

Szechwan and Heritage Beer Sauce goes great with vegetable stir-fries, or use it as a glaze for roasts, barbecue chicken or pork.

Photograph by: Pat McGrath
, Ottawa Citizen

A quarter-century ago while living in Waterloo, Ont., I attended the opening of Brick Brewing Co. Ltd., Ontario's first small craft brewery, tucked away in a heritage yellow brick building barely a stone's throw from Labatt's down the main street.

It was a joyous occasion, one filled with froth and smiles, as founder Jim Brickman defied all odds by going up against the major beer companies while most people thought he was, well, a little ambitious, if not a bit nuts.

Happily, Brick is still making beer and is among 25 members of Ontario Craft Brewers, who today proudly brew more than 150 handcrafted premium ales and lagers using fresh, natural ingredients in communities from Ottawa to Niagara to Muskoka.

Even better, craft brewers have been steadily winning awards in major national and international competitions, which goes to show we've come a long way since 1984 when Ontario regulators threw obstacles in Brickman's path and the only beer you could easily buy was some rather insipid runoff bottled by international conglomerates.

So I say what better occasion than summer to salute one of Ottawa's very own craft brewers -- Heritage Brewing Ltd. -- which began modestly enough eight years ago in an industrial area on Canotek Road. It is going strong, now more than ever.

At first, Heritage brewed just two batches a week, and not very large ones at that. In 2004 the brewery moved to Carleton Place, and in April this year it moved again to larger premises with room to expand at 866 Campbell Ave., near Carling and Clyde avenues.

Last year, owner Ron Moir estimates Heritage pumped out 120,000 litres of beer, or 26,000 gallons by the time it was kegged and/or bottled, much of it dispatched for pubs. These days, he has ambitious plans to expand, with more big tanks on the way.

Heritage has nine brews to its credit, some of them seasonal beauties such as Heritage Black Currant Rye Beer in the fall and Heritage Maple Bush Lager made with sugar-maple sap in the spring. That's right, maple sap instead of water to give it a faint background maple character.

"Our most popular is Heritage Premium Lager with the loon on the label," says Moir's wife and beer aficionado Donna Warner. "It's a real beer-drinker's beer with nice malty tones, quite crisp, and floral notes in the aroma."

"Without any doubt, beer has to be Canada's national beverage," Warner says, with no small affection.

"And craft brewers are the fastest-growing segment in the Ontario market as people discover that real beer has real taste.

"They've tried and liked the lagers and ales from overseas -- from the stouts in Ireland to the bitters in Britain and pilsners in the Czech Republic. And small craft brewers here are creating their own distinctive styles. Just as Australian wines tend to be more bold than their European cousins, craft breweries in Ontario by and large have bigger flavours than in Europe, where the styles originated."

Of course, beer isn't just for breakfast anymore. It makes a darned good embellishment in many recipes, adding hoppy character to, say, barbecue sauce and salad dressings. I've even tasted and enjoyed refreshing citrus- and lager-based granité served as a palate cleanser. Fancy that.

For this, our proud 12th annual Ode to Ale tribute just in time for Canada Day, we enlisted chef Mark Roper to share some of his favourite recipes from the kitchen at the popular downtown restaurant Prime 360.

And we asked Ontario Craft Brewers for some creative dessert recipes using beer. Try coffee cake and brownies, both using Mill St. Coffee Porter beer in the mix. (Bet the kids will be surprised when they sample these intense brownies.)

"We use Heritage Dark in our ribs because I find it adds depth of flavour and it's different from what everyone else is doing," says Roper, chef at the restaurant for nine years. "I find when I reduce a dark lager to make a sauce you get a sweet and sour effect. And, from the hops you get a little bite.

"At home, of course, beer is traditional in a fish batter, but here again I use dark lager instead of the lighter brews."

We also enjoyed beer in his salad dressing, and in Szechwan and Heritage Beer Sauce, which you can also use as a meat marinade. (VH makes a Szechwan sauce you can use in the recipe. It's sold in supermarkets; you can also use the President's Choice "Memories of" brand.)

Or, you can always just drink your favourite brews during this, our favourite party of the year.

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Szechwan and Heritage Beer Sauce

Makes 7 cups (1.75 L)

- 2 cups (500 mL) bottled Szechwan sauce (not spicy)

- 1/2 cup (125 mL) brown sugar

- 1/2 cup (125 mL) honey

- 1 cup (250 mL) orange juice

- 3 teaspoons (15 mL) crushed fresh gingerroot

- 3 cups (750 mL) Heritage Traditional Dark Lager

1. Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk together well.

Tip: Sauce keeps 2 weeks in a sealed container, refrigerated.

Use with: Add to any vegetable stir-fry, or as a final glaze for roast or barbecue chicken and pork.

2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and salt until evenly combined. Set aside. Melt butter, bittersweet chocolate and white chocolate chips in a double-boiler over very low heat, stirring constantly until melted. Remove from heat.

3. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add melted chocolate mixture, beating until combined. Beat reserved flour mixture into melted chocolate mixture. Whisk in coffee porter. The batter will seem a bit thin. Drop semi-sweet chocolate chips evenly on top of batter.

4. Pour into prepared baking pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes on centre rack in the oven, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out almost clean. Let brownies cool, uncovered, to room temperature. Dust with icing sugar.

Source: Mill St. Brewery, Toronto

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Traditional Dark Lager and Cranberry Salad Dressing

Makes 4 cups (1 L)

- 4 small fresh eggs (may substitute 1/2 cup/125 mL pasteurized egg product, sold in small cartons near eggs in the grocery store)

2. In large saucepan, bring porter and butter to a simmer over medium heat until butter melts, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add cocoa; whisk until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

3. In large bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk together eggs and sour cream; whisk in cooled porter mixture until well blended. Pour egg-porter mixture over flour mixture. Using wooden spoon, stir just until blended. Pour into prepared cake pan.

1. Combine all braising ingredients in a casserole or baking pan large enough to hold 2 racks of ribs in a single layer. Place ribs in a single layer in the mixture.

2. Add just enough water to cover ribs, then cover with foil and bake at 350 F (180 C) for 21/2 hours. Remove foil, baste with your favourite barbecue sauce and place ribs under oven broiler 2 minutes to caramelize the sauce.